True Concord Voices & Orchestra Launches New Season Celebrating Women
Grammy® nominated True Concord Voices & Orchestra announces the 2020-21 season entitled HER. In this 17th Season, Southern Arizona’s only professional chamber choir and orchestra pays homage to the centenary of the United States of America women’s suffrage by celebrating music that explores the impact of women on the world. Six concert series entitled The Nurturer, Mother Earth, Lessons & Carols by Candlelight-Mary’s Gift, Music for the Royal She, The Trailblazers, and The Goddess are planned for the season.
The 2020-21 Season HER explores the essence and complexity of femininity. Utilizing the expressive medium of music, each woman is recognized as a multifaceted being of unique ability, strength and value. She is perceived and experienced in different ways depending on the moment, the place and the beholder. Mother, healer, warrior, siren, leader, and self are revealed to be intertwined and endless. Hence the music selected and presented this season explores and celebrates the indelible impact of women on our world.
Rising to the Challenge – Modifications of Fall Schedule
Under the leadership of Music Director Eric Holtan, True Concord Voices & Orchestra will continue to present innovative programming, even while pandemic concerns have cut other performing art seasons in half. The organization has risen to the challenge by reimagining concert experiences and carefully modifying plans for the fall with the health and safety of the community, staff and artists as a top priority.
In preparation, True Concord formed a task force to reframe how a fall season could proceed. After doing a survey of artists, audiences and volunteers, they devised a modified fall season of live and streaming performances to address audience concerns while still producing rich musical experiences. “A number of our patrons have not been outside for most of this year,” says Founding Music Director, Eric Holtan, “we can only imagine the sense of profound isolation and loneliness they are experiencing. Having access to music is a powerful way to stay connected and in touch.”
Putting the artists in the True Concord “bubble” (a concept borrowed from the NBA which confined teams to a bubble in Disney World) will have the group’s 18 vocalists, most of whom come from outside Tucson, in quarantine for 10 days prior to rehearsals and performances. Local instrumentalists will quarantine at home and all artists will be continuously tested to ensure their health.
With the majority of respondents saying they would feel more comfortable with outdoor performances, True Concord’s live concerts will be held at venues with outside stages. Safety measures will be put in place that adhere to pandemic cleanliness regulations and social distancing guidelines (limited attendance, spaced seating, no-touch ticketing, etc). Live performances will be limited to an hour, with no intermission. Audience exits and entrances will be timed and coordinated to minimize contact and patrons will all be required to wear masks.
To serve patrons who aren’t quite ready to attend an in-person concert, True Concord is offering high quality concert experiences they can enjoy in the comfort of their own homes. Recorded in a high-quality, multi-camera video productions by the award-winning crew of Arizona PBS, these concerts will provide a unique opportunity to see and hear True Concord performances as never before.
THE CONCERTS
True Concord will film 4 complete programs while in the “bubble”: Brahm’s Requiem [10/20 – 10/25], Mother Earth [11/13 – 11/15] and their popular holiday concerts, Handel’s Messiah [12/5 – 12/25] and Lessons & Carols by Candlelight — Mary’s Gift [12/12 – 12/25].
The live concerts will include two new Vocal Consort performances — eclectic, small ensemble repertoires not often performed by True Concord. Each set includes 6 separate opportunities to safely enjoy live choral music: Vocal Consort I 10/28 10/28 – 11/2 and Vocal Consort II 11/3 – 11/8 (see details below).
Tickets to all live and streaming concerts can be purchased at trueconcord.org. The presentation format of the spring segment of the 17th season will be determined later, depending on public health considerations at that time.
TRUE CONCORD 2020/21 SEASON SCHEDULE
The Nurturer – Brahms Requiem Link: https://www.trueconcord.org/performances/2020-21-the-nurturer-brahms-requiem/ Celebrating the 150th anniversary of Brahms’s “London Version,” True Concord treats you to his chamber version of the Requiem, with 4-hands piano replacing the orchestra. For many, this will be a new, more intimate way to experience this beloved work. Johannes Brahms threw himself into the creation of his Requiem after the death of his beloved mother. The loss left him lonely and heartbroken. He was fortunate to have the ability to express and console his grief by creating what is now one of the most beloved works in the classical realm.
Vocal Consorts I & II Two different programs of eclectic, small ensemble repertoire not often performed by True Concord. Audiences limited to 50 people at each performance. All listed below will be performed at the Community Foundation for Southern AZ at 5049 East Broadway Blvd. #201 . Link: https://www.trueconcord.org/performances/2020-21-vocal-consorts/
Mother Earth ~ November 13-15, 2020 ~True Concord Choir, Soloists & Chamber Players. The music of nature from around the globe, including works by Brahms, Stanford, Whitacre and Randall Thompson’s The Peaceable Kingdom. Randall Thompson’s The Peaceable Kingdom is based on texts from the Old Testament and inspired by Edward Hicks’s renowned paintings that explore harmony and unity. Today, we find ourselves universally aware of how we are linked — in our country and throughout the globe — people to animals and to the earth itself. Link: https://www.trueconcord.org/performances/2020-21-mother-earth/
Handel’s Messiah ~ December 5-25, 2020 ~ True Concord Choir, Soloists & Orchestra ~ A special video-recorded production of Handel’s treasured masterpiece. Just in time for the Christmas season, this special video-recorded (and socially distanced) production of the treasured Messiah, will be available as an online concert. True Concord Voices & Orchestra last performed Handel’s masterpiece in 2018 in a series of special presented performances. Link: https://www.trueconcord.org/performances/2020-21-messiah/
Lessons & Carols by Candlelight – Mary’s Gift ~ December 12-25, 2020~ True Concord Choir, Guy Whatley, organ & Christine Vivona, harp. True Concord continues its holiday tradition with this year’s inspiration being music inspired by Mary, mother of the Christ child. Mary was a young girl of about 14 when she gave birth to her son — and the child became her gift to humankind. Celebrate the beauty and mystery of a gift given fully from the heart — with the glow of candles, the velvet sound of voices and the community of people joined together through music. Link: https://www.trueconcord.org/performances/2020-21-lessons-carols-candlelight-marys-gift/
True Concord will perform old and new works for the season, including selections from its recent Christmas album. Critically acclaimed Christmas With True Concord: Carols in the American Voice reached No. 5 on Billboard’s Traditional Classical Chart. Additionally, the concert will include excerpts from Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28, scored for choir and harp.
NEW THIS SEASON
True Concord introduces the Close-Up Series. This series consists of three recital performances by accomplished soloists at the intimate UA Holsclaw Hall. The Close-Up Series begins January 21, 2021 with Corinne Winters Returns! followed by Paul Max Tipton on March 2, 2021, and concludes with Kim Leeds & Gene Stenger on March 16, 2021.
Information: trueconcord.org; 520-401-2651.
Grammy® nominated True Concord Voices & Orchestra is Southern Arizona’s only professional chamber choir and orchestra. Committed to creating experiences that move, enrich and inspire, True Concord presents the highest quality performances of distinctive and engaging classical music. Shakespeare’s prose, “…the true concord of well-tuned sounds…” (Sonnet VIII) inspired the name True Concord Voices & Orchestra. For more information visit True Concord Voices & Orchestra on Facebook or at trueconcord.org. Talent photographs available upon request.
